Car construction



Nov. 17, 1936. G. G. GILPIN CAR CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Oct. 20,1928 H i i Q 3 M, a b A m" .1 V m H Ti 2 E 3F W a m m WHHHH 3 Hm M 6 m Fm A i 9 m p? i n m L m w a a m 1m [Q 6 g u .1 "mm m F a M m v UL\ r m Gflliimu mw r llill WMM HHMMWMM i J n .illlll rl I lll n|| ILH MM I /WFJIH| l l u L M Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES CAR CONSTRUCTIONGarthG. Gilpin, Riverside, Ill., assignor to Union Metal ProductsCompany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware PATENT Originalapplication October 20, 1928, Serial No. 313,906. Divided and thisapplication June 23, 1933, Serial No. 677,334

27 Claims.

My invention relates to the construction of railway freight cars, andmore particularly to the walls, floors or doors thereof whether suchparts are rigidly secured to the car proper or hinged thereto, andcomprises integral cast metal members forming a frame in combinationwith preferably cast metal panels or units which form the load retainingportions of the walls, floors or doors of the car and which are rigidlyand removably secured to the frame.

One of the objects of the invention is to form such a frame (or a panel)of cast metal having the structural members and the means for attachingthem to the other parts of the car formed integrally and to distributethe metal in the frame to accommodate the various service stresses withthe least amount of metal, thereby obtaining a very light but eflicientstructure, resulting in increased life of the device and reduction inmaintenance cost as compared to the composite structures now in use.

Another object is to provide a drop end gate for a mill-type" railwaygondola car by providing pintles or trunnions at the lower corners ofthe end wall of the car adjacent the floor of the car which pivotallyengage sockets in an adjacent part of the car, such as the side wall,corner post or end sill. Another object is to provide means to supportthe weight of the drop end gate in upright or closed position,preferably independently of the hinging means.

Another object is to provide an end frame for such a car having integralend sill, corner post and means to accommodate the 'hinging means of adrop end gate.

Another object is to provide a cast metal corner post having integralmeans for attachment to the side wall and integral means for forming anabutment for a drop end gate which post preferably also has means toaccommodate a hinging means for a drop end gate.

By nature of their requirements railway freight train cars are out ofdoors substantially all of the time, therefore, are subjected tocorrosive action of the elements, and while paint and othernon-corrosive coatings have been applied to the car parts, suchprotection not only has been found to be expensive in time and money,but the lading removes the coating. This is particularly true of theinside of open type cars which are turned upside down in unloadingmachines causing the load to slide across the inside surface of the carbody and also when the discharging load slides across the surface of adrop door and also when the long lading rests upon the lowered drop endgate of a gondola car the friction .thereb,ei"* tween caused by themovement of the 63.18150 removes the protective coating from theendg'ateJi" Furthermore, certain ladings, such as sulphur, wet coal,which forms sulphuric acid, and saline 5 water (in refrigerator andstockgcars) cause rolled steel or iron to corrode. On'accountof itsincreased strength rolled steel lin the form-20f: plates and bars hassupplanted wood-L in carconstruction but the corrosiveaction of. the ele"10 ments eats away the rolled steel or 'iron material ly, reducingtheir strength and their len'gthflof life. This applies. to both theload carryingimeni bers, such as the sills, plates andxcdiaphragm andalso to the lading retaining members,' :su'c 15 as side and end walls,floors, hopperswhcipper doors, etc. It has been found thattcasti m'etalparticularly cast steel, has more-than twice resistance to corrosionthan rolled steel,"- the' fore, one of the objects of the: invention is;I make the car part of cast metaLupreferablycas' steel, to enable thecar part-to-resistcorrosion and furthermore, to produce a: constructiowherein the metal can be disposed ahdqaositioned to accommodate thestressesxsetupiby they car in service. Such a cast construction *n'eces.

sitates a minimum amount of material li'fO strength requirements. a iiAnother object is to eliminate-,1the icostasand' delay in fabricatingthe numerousm'complonen parts of the present structural steelcarpar'tsin Another object of forming the ,cartpartaofzcast metal is toeliminate the possibilityof IOOSEAC'OH nections which would permitrelative -.motion.be-.- tween the component parts of the carpart-,rasi-itv is common knowledge that the vibrationa'iofrrth car inmotion, due to rough and, uneven-:,track and steel 'wheels rolling onsteel rails togethe with longer trains and high speeds inpresentcda'practice, cause riveted joints and builtrgup section to work loose andthe railroads lookgwithbfavor'.

upon any device which reducesthenumbemjo parts and joints as these arethe weak apartso the car and the more such weak partsare elimi nated,the longer the life of the'car. .1 My invention not only relates to thefeature;

of having a car part consisting 0f, ,a ,.'cast,;frame in combinationwith a plurality of panels, but also consists of forming metal panels ofspecific configuration top certain advantages, particularly thedispositionof, the metal to accommodate servicestressesrandxt resistcorrosion, and another object is to hinge sucha cast metal panel to thebody of the car to form a door.

In the drawing:'

Figs. 1 and 2 show a typical application of my invention to a railwaycar.

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 show a drop end door or end gate of a preferredconstruction according to my invention.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the corner post and endsill.

The drawing shows the preferred form of my invention'wherein the endframe casting consists of a cross bar or end sill I with integralupright corner posts 4. Each corner post 4 comprises a flange 6extending longitudinally of the car for attachment of the side wall 8 ofthe car and ,another flange I ll substantially normal thereto adapted toprovide an abutment for the drop end gate I! when in upright or closedposition, as shown in Fig. 2 in solid lines, and preferably also when inlowered or open position, as shown in Fig. 2 in dot and dash lines. Theflange I extends below the end sill (2) for attachment to the side sillH of the car. The panel or drop end gate I! has a pintle or trimnion IIwhich engages a socket it in the end frame either in the cross barportion 2 or the corner post portion 4 thereof to form a hingeconstruction. The bottom 20 of the panel is preferably semi-cylindricalconcentric with the hinge point of the pintle and engages an arcuatesurface 22 in the cast metal end sill. I prefer to arrange thisconstruction so that the vertical weight of the door and also thehorizontal load thrust are taken by the end sill 2 and not by the pintleI! so that the pintle is merely a guiding hinge.

The drop end gate is preferably provided with outwardly extendingmarginal flanges engaging the corner posts when the gate is in uprightposition, so as to present a smooth surface 48 toward the interior ofthe car.

In drop end gates it is preferable that they be.

as thin as possible so instead of increasing the depth of thereinforcing ribs I! and the side flanges Oil-8| I prefer to increasethem in width adjacent their middle portions (82), thereby increasingtheir strength without increasing their depth. Sometimes the long ladingis allowed to rest directly upon the door when it is in a loweredposition causing'considerable friction between the load and the door,therefore. I prefer to provide a wooden supporting or anti-frictionstrip 83 of greater depth than the gate to support such long lading. Thestrip I3 is bolted to one of the ribs or preferably positioned betweentwo of the ribs and bolted thereto, as illustrated. I prefer to positionthese bolts so that they can be installed after the door is in a loweredposition, and furthermore, if bolts passed through the door the heads ofthe bolts would damage the woodenfloor.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 313,906,flied October 20, 1928.

I claim:

1. In a railway car, a one piece casting comprising an end sill, andspaced apart corner posts, said end sill consisting of a web secured tothe longitudinal frame members of the car and formed with asemi-cylindrical recess in combination with a panel hinged to the endsill and adapted to engage said posts when in upright position, saidpanel having a semi-cylindrical portion movably, engaging said recess,said recess and said portion extending longitudinally the length of thepanel. v

2. In a railway car, the combination of a floor, opposite side wallshaving inwardly projecting parts at one end thereof, a member extendingbetween the side walls adjacent the floor having an upper arcuatesurface, sockets in the walls adjacent the floor, and a drop end gatehaving its vertical margins abutting said parts when in uprightposition, said end gate having a pair of aligned pintles adjacent thelower margin thereof engaging said sockets, said end gate having itslower margin arcuate and concentric with said pintles and engaging thearcuate surface of the member to partially support the end gate whenbeing raised.

3. In a railway car, the combination of opposite side walls havinginwardly projecting parts at one end thereof, a member extending betweenthe side walls having an upper arcuate surface, a drop end gate havingits vertical margins abutting said parts when in upright position, saidend gate having its lower margin arcuate and engaging the arcuatesurface of the member to partially support the end gate when beingraised, and means to retain the arcuate lower margin of the door inengagement with said arcuate surface of the member.

4. In a railway car, the combination of a floor, opposite side walls,each wall provided with an inwardly projecting flange and a socketadjacent the floor of the car, and a drop end gate adapted to engagesaid flanges which resist outward movement of the gate when in uprightposition, said gate adapted to rest upon said floor when in loweredposition, said gate having a bottom member with an integral pintle ateach end thereof, said pintles engaging said sockets to form a hingeconstruction.

5. In a railway car, the combination of afloor, spaced apart side walls,a corner post secured to each side wall having an inwardly projectingflange and having a socket therein adjacent the floor of the car, and adrop end gate adapted to engage said flanges when in upright position toresist outward movement of the gate, said gate being substantially thesame length as the distance between said side walls and provided with apintle at each end thereof and adjacent the lower margin of the gatewhich extend beyond the end of the gate and engage said socketsrespectively to form a hinge construction whereby the gate when inhorizontal position may lie upon said floor.

6. In a railway car, the combination of a floor, spaced apart sidewalls, a corner post se cured to each side wall having an inwardlyprojecting flange and having a socket therein adjacent the floor of thecar with the opening thereof substantially flush with the inside of theside wall, and a drop end gate having a horizontal length substantiallyequal to the distance between the side walls, said end gate adapted toengage said flanges when in upright position to resist outward movementof the gate, said gate being provided with a pintle at each end thereofand adjacent the lower margin of the gate which extend beyond the end ofthe gate and engage said sockets respectively to form a hingeconstruction whereby the gate when in horizontal position may lie uponsaid floor.

7. In a railway car, the combination oi spaced apart comer posts, and adrop end gate hinged to said corner posts and means positioned betweensaid corner posts to support the vertical weight of the gate when closedindependently of the floor otthe car.

8. In a railway car, the combination of spaced apart corner posts, and adrop end gate hinged to said corner posts, said posts provided withmeans to support the vertical weight oi the gate when closed.

9. In a railway car, the combination of spaced apart comer posts, and adrop end gate hinged to said corner posts, said posts provided withmeans to support the vertical weight of the gate when closedindependently of the hinging means.

10. In arailway car, the combination of spaced apart corner posts, adrop end gate hinged to said corner posts, said posts provided withmeans to support the vertical weight of the gate when closedindependently of the hinging means, said posts provided with means toresist the horizontal load thrust against the gate when in uprightposition independently of the hinging means, and means to resist theinertia thrusts oi the end gate when in lowered position independentlyoi the hinging means.

11. A cast metal corner post for a railway car consisting of an integralcasting comprising a flange for attachment of the side wall, anotherflange substantially normal to the first mentioned flange adapted toprovide an abutment for a drop end gate, and a portion positioned topartially support a drop end gate when in upright position.

12. A cast metal corner post for a railway car consisting of an integralcasting comprising a flangeior attachment of the side wall, anotherflange substantially normal to the first mentioned flange adapted toprovide an abutment for a drop end gate, and a portion positioned topartially support a drop end gate when in upright position and topartially support said drop end gate when in lowered position.

13. A cast metal corner post for a railway car consisting of an integralcasting comprising-a flange for attachment of the side wall, anotherflange substantially normal to the first mentioned flange adapted toprovide an abutment for a drop end gate, a socket integral with thefirst mentioned flange adapted for engagement with a pintle of a dropend gate, and a portion positioned to support a drop end gate when inupright position and to partially support said drop end gate when inlowered position.

14. In a railway car, the combination of spaced apart corner posts, adrop end gate, and a member extending sidewise oi the car between saidcorner postsindependently oi the floor of the car, said gate-hinged tothe posts so that the member will support the weight of the door when inan upright position and partially support the weight of the door when ina lowered position.

15. A car end formed of a substantially U- shaped integral metal castingconsisting of a cross bar and corner posts, said cross bar comprising aweb, spaced apart walls, and outwardly extlirsiding flanges at the lowermargin of said wa 16. A car end formed of a substantially U- shapedintegral metal casting consisting of a cross bar and corner posts. saidcross bar comment for a drop end gate, and a substantially horizontalweb connecting said flanges adapted to support said drop end gate whenin upright position.

18. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, each postcomprising a flange attached to the adjacent side wall of the car, andanother flange substantially normal, to the first mentioned flangeadapted to form an abutment for a drop end door in combination with ahorizontal member extending between and secured to both flanges of bothcorner posts, said member adapted to support a drop end gate when inupright position independently of the floor of the car.

19. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, each postcomprising a flange attached to the adjacent side wall oi! the car, andanother flange substantially normal to the first mentioned flangeadapted to form an abutment for a drop end door in combination with ahorizontal member extending between and secured to both flanges of'bothcorner posts, said member adapted to support a drop end gate for theentire length of the end gate when in upright position independently ofthe floor of the car.

20. In a railway car having spaced apart corner posts, each postcomprising a flange attached to the adjacent side wall of the car,another flange substantially normal to the first mentioned flangeadapted to form an abutment for a drop end door in combination with ahorizontal member extending between and secured to both flanges oi! bothcorner posts, said member adapted to support a drop and gate when inupright position independently or the floor oi! the car, and asubstantially vertical member extending between and secured to the firstmentioned flanges of both corner posts.

21. A railway car end formed or a substantially U-shaped metal castingconsisting of an end sill and spaced apart comer posts, each of saidposts comprising a flange extending longitudinally of the car and aflange extending laterally of the car, said end sill comprising asubstantially horizontal portion connecting the flanges of each postrespectively so as to form a gusset therebetween the floor oi the car, aone piece casting comprising an end sill and spaced apart corner posts,each of said comer posts having a flange adapted to be secured to theadjacent side of the car and a flange adapted to overlap the outer faceof the door when the latter is in closed position, said end sill havinga substantially vertical portion and aninwardly projecting substantiallyhorizontal portion which merges into both of said flanges or both ofsaid corner posts, said inwardly projecting portion constituting asupport for Y the door when the latter is in closed position.

23. A railway gondola car having a drop end door adapted when in openposition to overlap the floor oi the car, a one piece casting comprisingan end sill and spaced apart corner posts, each of said corner postshaving a flange adapted to be secured to the adjacent side of the car.and a flange adapted to overlap the outer face of the door when thelatter is in closed position, said end sill having a substantiallyvertical portion and an inwardly projecting substantially horizontalportion which merges into both of saidflanges of both of said cornerposts, said inward- 1y projecting portion constituting a support for thedoor when the latter is in closed position and also when said door is inopen position.

24. In a railway car, a one piece casting comprising an end sill andspaced apart corner posts, each of said corner posts having a flangeadapted to be secured to the adjacent side of the car and a flangeadapted to overlap the outer face oi! the door when the latter is inclosed position, said end sill having a substantially vertical portionand an inwardly projecting substantially horizontal portion which mergesinto both of said flanges oi. both of said corner posts, said inwardlyprojecting portion constituting a support for the door when the latteris in closed position.

25. In a railway car, a one piece casting comprising an end sill andspaced apart corner posts, each of said corner posts having a flangeadapted to be secured to the adjacent side of the car and a flangeadapted to overlap the outer faceof the door when the latter is inclosed position, said end sill having a substantially vertical portionand an inwardly projecting substantially horizontal portion which mergesinto both of said flanges of both of said corner posts, said inwardlyprojecting portion constituting a support for the door when the latteris in closed position, each of said posts provided with a trimnionpocket adjacent said inwardly projecting portion.

26. A railway gondola car having a drop end door adapted when in openposition to overlap the floor of the car, a one piece casting comprisingan end sill and spaced apart corner posts, each 01' said corner postshaving a flange adapted to be secured to the adjacent sideoi the car anda flange adapted to overlap the outer face of the door when the latteris in closed position. said end sill having a substantially verticalportion and an inwardly projecting substantially horizontal portionwhich merges into both of said flanges of both of said comer posts, saidinwardly projecting portion constituting a support for the door when thelatter is in closed position, each of said posts provided with atrunnion pocket adjacent said inwardly projecting portion, said doorprovided with trunnions engaging said pockets.

27. A railway gondola car having a drop end door adapted when in openposition to overlap the floor oi the car, an end sill and spaced apartcorner posts, each of said corner posts having a flange adapted to besecured to the adjacent side of the car and a flange adapted to overlapthe outer face of the door when the latter is in closed position, saidend sill having a substantially vertical portion and an inwardlyprojecting substantially horizontal portion which is connected to bothof said flanges oi both of said corner posts, said inwardly projectingportion constituting a support for the door when the latter is in closedposition.

' GARTH G. GILPIN.

